I really enjoy your indepth excavations of hidden corners of the Beat universe. I'm sure there's many other Beat / Counterculture nerds out there who feel the same. I hadn't heard about the dishevelled state of the HST Estate. It's disheartening, and reminds me of the incredibly hamfisted 'editorial' work done on Jim Morrison's two posthumous poetry / notebook collections (Wilderness and The American Night), and the nightmare of Ken Kesey's archive rotting away in a barn.
The HST estate is a travesty. To be fair, it's a sort of legal nightmare and I know it's fractured between different groups, each of whom has their own interests, but the result is that no one takes care of anything other than a few incoming cheques. I would love to see his collected early short fiction or a better effort at his early non-fiction. (Great Shark Hunt has good content but it's totally random and badly edited.) Then there's the third letter collection... There's honestly so much that could be done and yet no one will do it. What a damn shame.
Hamfisted efforts are sadly quite common when profits are put over passion. I never realised this until working with different estates and realising the thankless task these people do and the difference that they make.
I was talking to a friend about this a little while ago. It is a shame that I think Hunter isn't getting his due as an important writer and only seems to exist as a fictional character, the Duke persona, if at all to younger generations. When his work merits attention, perhaps more so now in many ways. Because I am such a fan I love that Kerouac's estate is still putting "new" stuff out. For me every new publication, even if not as great as his best work, is interesting and worth a read. And I don't think on a larger literary scale Kerouac gets his proper respect either from academics etc. But at least there is an effort to keep the flame burning. I don't know the working of Hunter's Estate aside from bits and pieces I've read. Is Brinkley still involved? Is there tension between Juan and Anita that inhibits things? And I agree, these reissues with people like Lars Ulrich and whoever the hell did the Fear and Loating in Las Vegas 50th intro, does no favors. I'd love to see a collection of early works, short pieces like Fire in the Nuts, the third book of letters, hell I'll take unfinished pieces like whatever state Polo is My Life is in or the NRA book Brinkle mentions in one of the documentaries. I'd love to read these fragments, anything I think would help shine a light on Hunter for new generations. I have multiple copies of his book and fully plan to give my kids copies and hope that helps keep Hunter's flame burning in some small way
It would be amazing to get some new collections or anything meaningful, really. We need scholars to have access to the archives as well, so that we can get some proper critical attention and he can move beyond simply being the drugged-up clown that people think he was. The Kerouac estate obviously has its issues but they put out new material and care for his legacy even if only for their profit. The HST estate does nothing. Brinkley is not involved. He moved on long ago. The rest of it is split between people, which is probably why nothing gets done. I believe the actual literary portion of the estate is simply looked after by the lawyer, so all that happens is contracts get signed when a publisher gets in touch. Nothing proactive happens. I tried to put out a book of some unpublished work a few years ago and they wouldn't even respond. Sadly, we will probably never see anything positive.
That is a damn shame no one can find a way to coordinate his writing in an organized fashion and make sure it gets handled properly. It seems like if nothing else it would be financially valuable for whoever it concerns. I suppose the same could be said for Salinger. Only four books out there officially, though Catcher in the Rye probably does well to this day. I have been waiting years for work that was supposed to be published. But he has received plenty of acclaim compared to Hunter. Sad and frustrating Hunter's work that is available doesn't really get the attention it deserves. Even at some of his weaker of honestly lazier moments there are always some gems in there.
Like with Kerouac, even if Sampas is a tenuous relation looking to make money, it is good to see stuff. I was so excited when Atop and Underwood came out and, as not great as it is Orpheus Emerged. The Haunted Life I thought was interesting, even if very incomplete and the stuff in recent years is pretty interesting, Self Portrait and the Desolation Angel's book.
Like you, I'd love to see even that kind of stuff, notebooks, half finished pieces, shirt stories, etc from Hunter
PS- A few years ago, I suppose more than a few now, when Freak Kingdom and then your High White Notes and the Freak Power documentary, even (again not great, but still something) the Fear and Loathing in Aspen movie came out, it felt like this great swell of interest, at least to me. So here is hoping there will at least always be some interest brewing out there
Let's hope something happens. With at least some of his stuff in a university archive now, there is hope for some new information coming to light. I think my book and Denevi's one will set a foundation and show publishers that there is some market for these sorts of work and some legitimacy in HST as a literary figure. It would be good if the estate got on board, though.
I really enjoy your indepth excavations of hidden corners of the Beat universe. I'm sure there's many other Beat / Counterculture nerds out there who feel the same. I hadn't heard about the dishevelled state of the HST Estate. It's disheartening, and reminds me of the incredibly hamfisted 'editorial' work done on Jim Morrison's two posthumous poetry / notebook collections (Wilderness and The American Night), and the nightmare of Ken Kesey's archive rotting away in a barn.
The HST estate is a travesty. To be fair, it's a sort of legal nightmare and I know it's fractured between different groups, each of whom has their own interests, but the result is that no one takes care of anything other than a few incoming cheques. I would love to see his collected early short fiction or a better effort at his early non-fiction. (Great Shark Hunt has good content but it's totally random and badly edited.) Then there's the third letter collection... There's honestly so much that could be done and yet no one will do it. What a damn shame.
Hamfisted efforts are sadly quite common when profits are put over passion. I never realised this until working with different estates and realising the thankless task these people do and the difference that they make.
I was talking to a friend about this a little while ago. It is a shame that I think Hunter isn't getting his due as an important writer and only seems to exist as a fictional character, the Duke persona, if at all to younger generations. When his work merits attention, perhaps more so now in many ways. Because I am such a fan I love that Kerouac's estate is still putting "new" stuff out. For me every new publication, even if not as great as his best work, is interesting and worth a read. And I don't think on a larger literary scale Kerouac gets his proper respect either from academics etc. But at least there is an effort to keep the flame burning. I don't know the working of Hunter's Estate aside from bits and pieces I've read. Is Brinkley still involved? Is there tension between Juan and Anita that inhibits things? And I agree, these reissues with people like Lars Ulrich and whoever the hell did the Fear and Loating in Las Vegas 50th intro, does no favors. I'd love to see a collection of early works, short pieces like Fire in the Nuts, the third book of letters, hell I'll take unfinished pieces like whatever state Polo is My Life is in or the NRA book Brinkle mentions in one of the documentaries. I'd love to read these fragments, anything I think would help shine a light on Hunter for new generations. I have multiple copies of his book and fully plan to give my kids copies and hope that helps keep Hunter's flame burning in some small way
It would be amazing to get some new collections or anything meaningful, really. We need scholars to have access to the archives as well, so that we can get some proper critical attention and he can move beyond simply being the drugged-up clown that people think he was. The Kerouac estate obviously has its issues but they put out new material and care for his legacy even if only for their profit. The HST estate does nothing. Brinkley is not involved. He moved on long ago. The rest of it is split between people, which is probably why nothing gets done. I believe the actual literary portion of the estate is simply looked after by the lawyer, so all that happens is contracts get signed when a publisher gets in touch. Nothing proactive happens. I tried to put out a book of some unpublished work a few years ago and they wouldn't even respond. Sadly, we will probably never see anything positive.
That is a damn shame no one can find a way to coordinate his writing in an organized fashion and make sure it gets handled properly. It seems like if nothing else it would be financially valuable for whoever it concerns. I suppose the same could be said for Salinger. Only four books out there officially, though Catcher in the Rye probably does well to this day. I have been waiting years for work that was supposed to be published. But he has received plenty of acclaim compared to Hunter. Sad and frustrating Hunter's work that is available doesn't really get the attention it deserves. Even at some of his weaker of honestly lazier moments there are always some gems in there.
Like with Kerouac, even if Sampas is a tenuous relation looking to make money, it is good to see stuff. I was so excited when Atop and Underwood came out and, as not great as it is Orpheus Emerged. The Haunted Life I thought was interesting, even if very incomplete and the stuff in recent years is pretty interesting, Self Portrait and the Desolation Angel's book.
Like you, I'd love to see even that kind of stuff, notebooks, half finished pieces, shirt stories, etc from Hunter
PS- A few years ago, I suppose more than a few now, when Freak Kingdom and then your High White Notes and the Freak Power documentary, even (again not great, but still something) the Fear and Loathing in Aspen movie came out, it felt like this great swell of interest, at least to me. So here is hoping there will at least always be some interest brewing out there
Let's hope something happens. With at least some of his stuff in a university archive now, there is hope for some new information coming to light. I think my book and Denevi's one will set a foundation and show publishers that there is some market for these sorts of work and some legitimacy in HST as a literary figure. It would be good if the estate got on board, though.